Character Evaluation
Princess Sari thrust out her lower lip in a pout.
“That boy is starting to annoy me.”
“He’s your younger brother. Be nice to him.”
“Your health matters more to me, Munyeo-nim. If you’re ill, my heart aches too. I’ve known you longer than I’ve known him, haven’t I? So you should care more about my feelings. You have to stay healthy for me.”
“You’d let your father die, but suddenly you care so much about my health?”
“Munyeo-nim is different from Appa-ma.”
“...?”
“Munyeo-nim is... Munyeo-nim.”
Princess Sari answered with the kind of calm bafflement one reserved for utter nonsense. Then she closed her eyes in mild dissatisfaction and opened them again.
In the meantime, the Sea Witch had shed her eight arms and taken on a human form. The white jacket’s ties and skirt fluttered softly in the waves.
With delicate fingers, the Sea Witch loosened Princess Sari’s mussed hair, combed it through properly, and braided it into a tight plait again as she said, “It’s not just because of Neoul. The East Sea Dragon King is missing, and so is the West Sea Dragon King. If the South Sea Dragon King dies too, who’s left to look after the sea? Who’s going to protect the Dragon Palace?”
“What do you mean, who? My big brother’s there. We can just shove him into the sea and live on land together in peace.”
“Oh, sure, he’d agree to that. He’d just tell you to go.”
“I don’t like that.”
Princess Sari said this with a grumble.
“I like freshwater better than seawater.”
When the Sea Witch finished tying her hair and let go, Princess Sari fiddled with the beautifully braided plait.
“Your braiding’s gotten better.”
“Of course it has. Do you know how many kids I’ve braided in my time? I used to braid Neoul’s hair all the time, too.”
“My hair is the longest, so it’s the easiest to braid, right?”
Princess Sari shook her hair and flopped down shamelessly onto the Sea Witch’s long skirt, acting spoiled.
“Yes.”
The Sea Witch laughed as she indulged the whims of the thousand-year-old dragon princess.
“You’re coming to land with me, right?”
“How long was I asleep?”
“About two months, I think.”
“I slept a long time. Now that my body’s recovered, I should go. I’m curious what Neoul’s been up to, too. And Won Hasin’s big brat would worry if he couldn’t get in touch.”
“Won Hasin’s big brat” was the Sea Witch’s name for Won Unjong, the chairman of UJ Group and Won Hasin’s grandfather. Won Hasin, naturally, was the “small brat.”
Chairman Won Unjong was an old man with a face folded into wrinkles, but in the Sea Witch’s eyes, who had known him since he was a child, he was still just a child.
That was true of the thousand-year-old princess and the twenty-year-old prince alike.
* * *
Neoul and Yeo Do-bin arrived at the filming site in Song Bi-seo’s car. The production crew brought them in one at a time. They had set up several routes into the studio and guided each participant in by a different path entirely.
Yeo Do-bin went in first, and Neoul, now alone, was taken by the crew into the elevator and sent up to the third floor.
There, sitting on a cushion spread across the hallway floor, was a baby.
“...?”
The baby sat all alone on the cushion. With plump cheeks and big round eyes, it was an impossibly cute, lovely little thing.
The baby spotted Neoul and stared at him blankly. Beside the baby lay a stiff sheet of paper.
“Advice Counseling for a Stranger’s Worries!”
Hello. My name is So Wooju. I’m 20 months old. All my friends can walk and run, but I’m still not very good at walking, so I’m worried. What should I do?
What in the world was this?
Still dazed, Neoul decided to greet the human baby first.
“A pleasure to meet you, So Wooju. I am Gal Neoul.”
The baby’s eyes widened even more as it stared hard at Neoul’s face.
“Did you write this? You’re better at this than I am.”
The handwriting was far neater and prettier than Neoul’s own chicken-scratch scrawl. He was genuinely impressed.
* * *
Producer Seok O-yeong was watching Neoul in real time through the monitor.
The baby’s sudden appearance was part of the “character evaluation.” After all, character is one of the many important virtues an idol is supposed to have.
They had hired children of different ages—a kindergarten child actor, an elementary schooler, a 20-month-old baby. Each of them had a worry of some sort, and the participants were expected to offer advice or help.
They didn’t have to solve the children’s problems. The point was to see how the participants approached the issue and how they thought their way through it.
But how honestly could you really judge a person’s character while filming?
In truth, the so-called character evaluation was just a pretext. What they really wanted was a touching scene of the contestants playing with a cute baby, to squeeze out one last burst of viewership at the end.
On screen, Gal Neoul was looking at the printed message and telling the baby what beautiful handwriting it had.
Is he an idiot? Or is he just absurdly free of prejudice?
At times he seemed clever and sharp-witted; at others, he was so pure it was almost foolish. Or maybe he was pretending to be dumb just to make the audience laugh. It was impossible to tell.
And that’s obviously a parent’s concern, no matter how you look at it.
What 20-month-old baby, after all, would stop and examine its own development and think, Hmm, I’m a bit late to walking compared to the others?
Seok O-yeong watched in exasperation as Gal Neoul cautiously extended a hand to the baby.
He expected Neoul to gently take the baby’s hand and offer some obvious, kindly reassurance like, “It’s all right if you start walking a little late,” or “Don’t worry. Just take it slowly.”
That was probably the sort of reaction that would pour in, sending ratings and clip views through the roof. Seok O-yeong stared at the screen with quiet anticipation.
The baby, who had been blankly staring at Gal Neoul, placed a tiny maple-leaf hand onto Neoul’s large palm.
[Daa... paa!]
[I am not your father.]
[Paa!]
[I said I’m not.]
Gal Neoul took both of the baby’s hands, then slowly lifted them upward to help the child stand.
[Good.]
Neoul drew the baby toward him.
The baby managed to get up, but couldn’t move its feet; instead, it shoved its bottom back and pitched its upper body forward. Gal Neoul steadied the child so it wouldn’t fall and said,
[Human baby, no, So Wooju. Put strength in your legs.]
Neoul’s voice was as kind as could be, but the content was utterly serious and firm.
[I’m not really in a position to give advice, since I only started walking a few months ago, but walking is all about putting strength into your feet and butt and keeping your balance. That’s from experience.]
A few months ago?
Seok O-yeong arched a brow in confusion, then remembered the story that Neoul had been ill for so long he couldn’t even go to school. He’d forgotten for a moment because Neoul looked so perfectly healthy, running around and dancing on stage with such ease.
Well, it is about time we started unpacking that story.
You couldn’t just waste a delicious narrative about overcoming illness and chasing dreams.
Seok O-yeong quickly made a note.
[Don’t be afraid. I’ll hold you so you won’t fall.]
As Neoul urged the baby on with little tugs of his hand, the child scrunched its brows, worked its chubby cheeks, then trembled its lips and spat.
Gal Neoul blinked, startled, and said, [So Wooju. You have the makings of a singer, don’t you? You already know how to warm up your voice.]
Since the baby didn’t seem especially eager to walk, Neoul set it back on the cushion.
He glanced around and spotted a new PPL drink nearby: fruit-and-vegetable juice for babies in a tiny pouch. It had been prepared in advance for the child actors and babies cooperating in the character evaluation mission.
Neoul grabbed two pouches, ignored the attached straws on the side, and tore open the top with his bare hands. Then, without putting his lips to the pouch, he took a sip to taste it first.
What? Wasn’t that for the baby? Why is he drinking it himself?
Watching, Seok O-yeong let out an incredulous snort. Neoul savored the taste briefly, swallowed, and nodded as if satisfied.
[It is safe.]
Huh? What was that? Was he checking to see whether it was poisoned or something?
Kim I-dam’s departure flashed through Seok O-yeong’s mind.
No way...
He turned to his assistant director and asked, “Did you see that? Gal Neoul tasting it. Has he done that before?”
“Ah—! Yes! Ever since the day after what happened to Kim I-dam, he’s been like that. Whenever he gives out drinks or food, he always tastes it first, one by one, before handing them over. Even if we tell him everything was handled safely, he won’t believe us. He even steals a bite from the kids’ portions and tastes it first...”
“Wow...”
Did he not care about his own safety? The more you looked at him, the stranger he became.
On screen, Gal Neoul handed the now-confirmed-safe juice to the baby and opened another pouch.
[Now then, let’s have a toast, walking companions. Baek Gi-yeom said this is what you do when you drink with someone else. Come on, quickly now. Cheers.]
Neoul sat beside the baby and lightly tapped the pouch the child was holding with his own.
[I don’t know anything at all now that I’ve come up to land. Why are there so many new things, and why is there so much to learn?]
Neoul drained the tiny juice pouch, far smaller than his palm, and sighed softly.
[You must be tired too, having to learn about the world so soon after being born.]
The baby drank, juice spilling all down its chin. Barely half of it even made it into the mouth. The white outfit its mother had dressed it in so neatly that morning was stained all over with the red of carrot, apple, and beet juice.
Gal Neoul wiped around the baby’s mouth and its sticky little hands with his own sleeve. His own clothes were turning red too, but he didn’t seem to care one bit whether they got dirty.
The baby braced its hands on Neoul’s knee and stood up. As the baby pulled at his clothes, Neoul gently wiped the juice stains from the child’s cheek and said,
[It’s scary to fall down, isn’t it. But you can’t move forward without falling first. You already know how to stand, so there’s nothing to fear. Just try lifting your foot. If you fall, you get up again.]
[Uuu!]
[Once you do it, you’ll see it’s nothing much.]
[Aya-aya.]
The baby shook its head vigorously from side to side. It seemed not quite ready to walk yet, or perhaps it simply didn’t want to. It sounded as though it was saying no, or maybe trying to tell him that falling hurt.
[All right, then. I had to hurry to learn to walk, but you should try when your heart is ready.]
Neoul stroked the baby’s soft hair.
Watching the two of them on the monitor, Seok O-yeong decided he’d better go back and rewatch the footage of Neoul practicing running with Baek Gi-yeom and Baek Yuri.
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